


Unraveled Secrets

by NovelCarrington



Category: NCIS
Genre: Angst, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-02
Updated: 2015-08-02
Packaged: 2018-04-12 14:06:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 18,983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4482083
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NovelCarrington/pseuds/NovelCarrington
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>NCIS story with an original female character named Jillian Harris.  She is a JAG officer investigating a drug operation and it hits a little too close to home.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

The JAG office was quiet, except for the rhythmic tapping of the rain on the window. Everyone had left for the long weekend, except for Lieutenant Commander Jillian Harris. She didn’t mind that she was alone, she felt safe; after all she was on a military base. It was sometimes a bit off-putting though to have all of the lights off with just a little desk lamp illuminating the stacks of files cluttering the desktop. Jillian was involved in her work though; she had longed to make something of herself and prove what she was capable of, that meant long weekends and no life outside of the office.

The file that held her attention at the moment was of a young sailor who had gotten wrapped up in a drug smuggling ring. Petty Officer Brandon Hill seemed like a good kid with the perfect background; what led him down this path? Jillian knew that there was more to the story and was positive that he was a small cog in a much larger operation. She wanted the big fish; she was sure that she could come up with the necessary evidence to flip Petty Officer Hill and reel in his supplier. It was somewhere in the file; her heart told her to keep looking but her head was warning her to stop. She knew she was getting close when the threats started. First there was the anonymous voicemails left on her phone and then the letters that started appearing at the JAG office. She was confident that it was nothing; that was until the calls started at her home. Calls would come after she got home, but the scariest ones were the ones that would wake her from her sleep, a deep husky voice on the other end warning her to stop on her own or they would make her stop and it wouldn’t be pretty. Jillian refused to let on that she was shaken; she hid from the Admiral and her co-workers that the threats were getting more ominous.

In her 3 years at JAG, Jillian had ruffled more than a few feathers. She could be like a dog with a bone – fiercely protective and not wanting to let go. The smaller cases that came across her desk, she did her own investigating on. She didn’t want to rely on others to get her what she needed – she was capable of doing it herself. She had earned a reputation for being hard nosed, but people respected her and that was the most important. Her gut instinct played a major role in her successes and her failures were few and far between.

It was close to midnight and Jillian figured she should start packing up and head home. Like most nights she packed a bag full of work, this time she would pack a bit more since she had an entire weekend to cover. She walked out of her office to turn on the main light in the hallway – she knew if she just turned off her desk lamp it would be hard to maneuver out of the area in complete darkness. While Jillian was keen and had good instincts, she was a klutz! She could trip and fall over nothing, or better yet, run into the door frames for no particular reason. No sense in risking it to get out of the office, turning on lights was the best way to go.

As she stepped back into her office to extinguish the desk lamp she heard a noise. She at first brushed it off, she had her cell phone in hand ready to dial when she heard the noise again. This time she was starting to get spooked. She hated horror movies and this felt like she was starring in one…creepy noise…dark building…storm raging outside…it was the classic sign that there was a killer around the corner. She gave a slight laugh at herself for thinking so vividly. But to be safe, she dialed the phone, hit send and turned around to leave - that would be the last thing she would do for the night.


	2. Chapter 2

At 3:00 AM on Saturday morning, the phone rang on the bedside table. After 3 rings, Gibbs rolled over to pick it up. He knew that if he was getting a call this early it couldn’t be good news.

“Gibbs, this is dispatch, we have a crime scene at the JAG offices we need you to investigate.”

“Ok, what have you got?”

“A Lieutenant Commander was attacked in her office. She is alive and has been taken to Bethesda.”

“Ok, on my way.”

Gibbs hung up the phone and called his team and told them to gear up. He said he would meet them at the scene. Jethro Gibbs loved his job as a Special Agent; he didn’t always like the crimes he had to investigate. After so many years, he had begun to get numb to what he was seeing and the inhumanity that people could inflict on one another. He grabbed a cup of coffee and headed for the Navy yard.

~ * ~

Gibbs pulled up the scene before the van arrived. He walked into the JAG offices and found Admiral Jerry Hurst standing in the hallway in front of Jillian Harris’ office. There were obvious signs of a struggle within the office and in the hall directly in front of the office door. The Admiral was safely outside of the crime scene area and had enough forethought to rope off the scene so he wouldn’t contaminate the evidence. It was apparent that the Admiral had been around the block a time or two.

“Can you tell me what happened here Admiral?” Gibbs asked as he took a sip from his coffee cup.

“It appears that one of my Lieutenant Commander’s was working late last night and was attacked. I wasn’t here Special Agent Gibbs so I cannot elaborate more than that.”

“Ok, well can you start with who it was? It always helps if I know who the victim is.”

“Oh, I thought dispatch gave that to you already. Her name is Jillian Harris. She is one of my best litigators – tough as nails and doesn’t really take anything off of anyone.” The Admiral said with a smile as he thought of the times he has watched Jillian in action.

“Jillian Harris?” Gibbs questioned; his eyes were wide and there was a tinge of recognition when he repeated her name. Tony, Ziva, and McGee could be heard coming up the hallway; they were squabbling like children. This was nothing new, the team was like a family and the dynamic between the three of them proved that theory. Just like a family, they saw the look on “dad’s” face and knew that play time was over.

“Where’s the body, boss?” DiNozzo asked as he looked around the office quite confused. He could see shuffled paper and blood stains but that was it.

“At Bethesda – she isn’t dead DiNozzo.” Gibbs shot back. He then turned his attention back to the Admiral. “When was she found and who called it in?” Gibbs asked.

“I found her around 2:30 this morning. I got a call from Jillian last night around midnight. She didn’t speak, I could hear what sounded like a struggle and a scream but that was it. I called out for her but there was no answer. The phone went dead and I tried calling her back but didn’t get a response.”

“And you didn’t think to call the police Admiral?”

“No, I didn’t know if it was a hoax or maybe it was her TV and she had dialed the phone accidently. I figured I would see if I could find her and if I couldn’t then I would turn it over to the authorities.”

“So what happened?”

“I left my house and went looking for her. I went to her apartment – she didn’t answer. The door was intact and locked. I have a spare key for emergencies and I let myself in. The apartment was intact and no signs of struggle. It didn’t even look like she had been home yet. So, I left and came here.”

“So it took you 2 ½ hours from the time you got the call to the time you found her here at the office? Boy, you sure don’t drive like Gibbs does.” DiNozzo chimed in as the Admiral finished his answer.

“DiNozzo, start taking pictures and sketching the scene!”

“On it boss!” Tony said as he stepped around the two gentlemen and started processing the scene.

“He had a point Admiral – does seem like quite a bit of time from the distress call to when you found her.”

“I live at least 45 minutes from Lieutenant Commander Harris’ apartment. By the time I left and got to her place it was almost 1:00 am. I looked around and then she lives about 45 minutes from here…Am I suspect Special Agent Gibbs?”

“At this point Admiral, everyone is. I am just trying to establish a timeline. Go on…tell me what happened when you found her.”

“I came in and the office was all lit up – well the main light here in the hall was on and the lights over the work stations, but her office lights were dark. Actually all of the office lights were dark and the doors closed. The only door that was open was the Lieutenant Commander’s.”

Gibbs was writing down everything the Admiral said; he would look up every so often and try to judge if he was telling the whole truth or if he was leaving anything out. His gut said that so far he was being truthful.

“I saw her lying there…she was unconscious, I checked for a pulse and was relieved to find that she was alive. I didn’t move her or touch her anywhere else…just her neck when I felt for the pulse. I picked up the desk phone over there and dialed 911. I didn’t go in her office or anything…I just stayed out here so I could let the ambulance in. The MPs showed up first and they said they would call NCIS.”

“Can you give us any information on the cases she was working on or if she had any threats? Anything that might help us find who did this to her.”

Before the Admiral could answer a voice boomed from across the room, “It is that damned Hill case. I knew those threats should have been taken more seriously.”

“Who are you?” Gibbs asked as he watched a man barrel his way across the room.

“Special Agent Gibbs this is Lieutenant Commander Scott Regan, he works closely with Lieutenant Commander Harris on many cases,” the Admiral offered.

“What the hell happened here? Where is Jillian?”

“Scott, she is going to be fine. Someone broke in and attacked her – roughed her up pretty good but she will be ok. Who called you?”

“One of the MPs…we are friends and when he found out what happened he called to tell me.”

Gibbs watched the dynamic of these two gentlemen as they discussed the victim. It was obvious that they both had feelings for her…what those were he was not sure of…but they were protective and it made him very curious.

He needed to finish this interview, it was too damn early in the morning and he was out of coffee. “Mind telling me about these threats? How many and what was the nature of them? And just what exactly is the Hill case?” Gibbs was throwing out questions before anyone could reasonably respond.


	3. Chapter 3

The Admiral directed Gibbs and Lieutenant Commander Regan into his office where they could talk and not be in the way of the scene being processed. As they walked to the other side of the room, Gibbs yelled back toward his team, “DiNozzo! You’re with me, David and McGee - see what you come up with.”

In unison they replied back, “Got it boss!”

Gibbs and DiNozzo walked into the Admiral’s office and sat in the chairs facing his desk, Lieutenant Commander Regan sat in the window of the office slightly to the right of the Admiral’s desk. The Admiral slowly took a seat and let out a deep sigh. He didn’t want to admit that he had approved a lawyer to do the investigative work on a case that should have been in the hands of NCIS. Ok, maybe not Gibbs and the major case team, after all, no one was dead…at least not yet. But this case was clearly over the head of a JAG lawyer.

“It started with a simple drug bust on the Vinson about 6 months ago. Petty Officer Brandon Hill was taken into custody for using cocaine while on duty. After he was taken into custody, he was found to be in possession of a large quantity of cocaine, marijuana and prescription meds. The Vinson had just deployed on a 6 month cruise, he was evidently stocked for the trip; some of it was packaged as if he was intending to distribute as well as use. Gibbs as you can imagine the Navy and the Vinson do not need this type of scandal. That ship has been a star member of the Carrier class since it was commissioned in ’82.”

Gibbs and DiNozzo listened intently while the Admiral continued his story. “Harris didn’t believe this kid could have acted alone. He didn’t strike her as a major drug dealer. She tried to flip him and he wouldn’t budge. She told him that she would work a deal for him and make things easier on him if he would give her his supplier. He wouldn’t do it. He was intent on keeping his mouth shut even if it meant hard time in prison.”

Lieutenant Commander Regan cleared his throat and explained what he knew. “Jillian, excuse me, Lieutenant Commander Harris, has this uncanny knack for knowing if someone is lying. I can’t explain it and she just says it’s her gut feeling. They brought this Hill kid in from the Carrier and she took one look at him and knew there was more to the story.”

“Scott is right; she just knew this kid didn’t do this all by himself. She started looking into his background. He was a good kid from a good family; he was married and seemed to have the perfect life. About 18 months ago it all went to hell for him; he started having money problems and was deeply in debt and got divorced. He got picked up for a DUI, started gambling, and his CO started seeing his performance slide. ”

“Well, that doesn’t automatically mean he couldn’t start using and dealing. Might have looked for pushing as a way to make money and get himself straight on his debts.” DiNozzo commented, “I saw this all the time when I worked narcotics with the Baltimore PD.”

“Well, you are right and that is what Jillian thought. She figured that if he was gambling he got mixed up with the wrong people, might have started pushing in order to pay off the debts that he owed. She found that he was depositing large quantities of cash so it began to make sense that he has dealing. But everyone she talked to said it was just not like this kid to deal drugs.”

“Lieutenant Commander Regan, you mentioned threats – what kind of threats and when did they start?” Gibbs asked.

“Well it stemmed from questioning in the trial for Petty Officer Hill. She asked him on the stand who his dealer was. He wouldn’t answer, said he didn’t have one. She started badgering him and he told her she should stop saying those things or it would get it her hurt. She froze, the judge adjourned the proceedings and ushered everyone out of the courtroom. She knew then that she was onto something. Petty Office Hill was put away for 6 years and dishonorably discharged from the Navy. She wouldn’t let the case go though. That is when the voicemails started. She erased them and thought it was some of her friends yanking her chain. Then the letters started to arrive here at the office.”

“Did she keep them?”

“Yeah, she has a box of them somewhere – they might be at her house I don’t think she kept them here.”

“DiNozzo – go check and see if this box is in her office – if not, take Ziva with you and go check out the Lieutenant Commander’s house.”

“Sure thing, Boss!” With that Tony DiNozzo got up from his seat and sprinted off to find the box of letters.

“Let me get this straight, you have a Lieutenant Commander who is getting enough threatening letters to fill a box and you don’t think it is a good idea to call the authorities? What in the hell do you two think you were doing?”

“Special Agent Gibbs, Jillian didn’t think they were that big of a deal,” Regan offered, “they just said things to the effect of back off, don’t pursue this further, you are barking up the wrong tree. They just called into question her logic, they never mentioned bodily harm. “

“No, they never mentioned hurting her, “Admiral Hurst started, “but the phone calls to her house did.


	4. Chapter 4

Gibbs pulled his car up in front of the apartment complex where Lieutenant Commander Harris lived. He stepped out of the car, took a deep breath and started walking toward the apartment door. He was not looking forward to this, he knew this case was going to be a rough one and it was still too damned early in the morning for this mess.

“What have you got?” Gibbs bellowed as he walked into the apartment.

“Boss, the Lieutenant Commander had a box in her closet. As Lieutenant Commander Regan mentioned, it was full of letters. I looked at a few and they were not that threatening, no bodily harm or harm on her family. Just telling her to quit looking, it won’t lead anywhere,” Ziva recited.

“Boss, I have her laptop and will be taking it to Abby. She has some encrypted files that we need to try and unlock – they possibly hold the key to the evidence she had on the larger case,” McGee reported.

“Good job guys, let’s look around for any other details that might help us learn more about our victim and more importantly the threats on her.” Gibbs began to look around the apartment and noticed that she had no pictures on the walls of friends or family.

After a few hours of combing through the personal effects of Lieutenant Commander Harris, the team took off to go and interview her at Bethesda. Gibbs had called the hospital earlier and found out she had been heavily sedated, going and seeing her any earlier in the investigation would have been a waste of time – she would have been too groggy and incoherent.

The car pulled up in front of the hospital and Gibbs, DiNozzo and Ziva began walking toward the door. McGee had stayed behind and was working with Abby to decode the laptop found in the apartment. While in the elevator, Gibbs turned to Ziva and said, “I would like you to interview her…she might respond better to another woman.”

“Ok, I can do that,” Ziva responded.

As they approached her room, the reality of the attack took shape. She was in the intensive care unit on the brain injury wing at Bethesda. She had no solid walls to her room, only glass ones. This was so the nurses could keep a close eye on her – with a head trauma and brain injury you need to be able to see your patient at all times. As they prepared to open the door, a doctor approached them.

“Special Agent Gibbs? I am Dr. Finn O’Daniel, I am the Neurologist assigned to Lieutenant Commander Harris’ case. I was told you would be coming to see her. She is coming out of sedation; I must ask that you go easy on her. She has a Grade III concussion and I don’t know that she can take a great deal of stress right now.”

“What other injuries does she have, how bad was this attack?” DiNozzo asked, he had softness to his voice, you could tell that he took this seriously and he had compassion for what this woman had gone through.

“It appears as if the attacker choked her, she has bruising around her neck. It appears he punched her as well – not only in the face but in the chest and torso. If he didn’t punch her in the torso, then he might have been kneeling on her – the bruising is quite disturbing. The punches to the face have caused considerable swelling.”

The team was visibly shaken to hear of the brutality of the attack. This sort of thing was not uncommon for them to see, but usually the victim doesn’t survive. Usually they are hearing Ducky give them this run down as he has completed an autopsy. It was difficult to hear what this woman had gone through and to know that she is alive.

DiNozzo was surprised that even through her injuries, she was a beautiful woman. Lieutenant Commander Jillian Harris had chocolate-cherry hair that fell softly on her shoulders. She had perfect lips, even if they were temporarily swollen. He could tell that she was a knock out. In a way, she reminded him of Kate – she had that look on her face even as she was asleep that warned you to back off but yet she still looked vulnerable.

Just about that time, he felt a hand on the back of his head. “Boss, what was that for?”

“Quite ogling over the victim, you are here to do a job.”

“Right boss, got it. “

Gibbs stayed near the door so that he could hear what was going on but not be in the line of sight. He told DiNozzo to stay back as well; he wanted Ziva to be the predominant person in the room. It would be better for the victim, he said.

“Lieutenant Commander Harris, can you hear me?”

Slowly Jillian began to open her eyes – they fluttered at first and then stayed open. There was fear in her blue-green eyes – it was evident to Gibbs and he was on the other side of the room.

“Where am I…what happened…who are you?”

“Shh…it is okay, you are safe now. My name is Special Agent David, I am with NCIS. You are at Bethesda Naval Hospital, you were injured. Do you recall what happened?”

“NCIS? Oh no, I don’t want NCIS involved…you need to go away…I don’t want to talk to you…,” Jillian’s voice trailed off as she tried to look around the room to see if there was anyone else there. “Who is that? Is he on your team? He needs to leave, you both do…I won’t cooperate.”

Gibbs slipped out of the room as she began her hysterics. He informed the nurse of what was going on but did not return to the room. He could see the panic in the eyes of Ziva and DiNozzo. They didn’t know what to do next.

The nurse ran into the room and provided another sedative to the Lieutenant Commander through her I.V. line. Slowly her mood changed and she settled down.

Tony slowly walked toward the bed and reached for Jillian’s hand, “Ms. Harris, we are not here to hurt you. We want to help; really, we want to find the person who did this to you. We talked to the Admiral, we know about the case you are working. We don’t want to jeopardize that, we just want to make sure you stay safe. Do you understand?”

Slowly Jillian nodded her head. “I don’t know who it was, he wore a mask.”

“Ok, can you tell us what you remember before the attack?” Ziva asked, she took a cue from Tony and lowered her voice so she sounded more soothing. Frankly, Ziva was shocked at how easily Tony calmed her down. She never thought he had that in him, but then again, after Jeanne; Tony was not the same Tony she met when she joined NCIS.

“It was raining…I was in the office by myself…I work late, all the time. I began packing up to head home and I heard a noise. I laughed it off, I was sure it was in my head and I was just being paranoid; but I heard it again. I pulled my cell phone out of my purse and dialed the Admiral. I didn’t hit send right away, I figured I had it primed in case I needed help. I turned around and there was a man in my doorway.”

“Can you describe him? Take your time Ms. Harris, there is no rush,” Tony asked.

“Um…he wore a mask…ski mask…could only see his lips and his eyes. They looked familiar but I couldn’t immediately place them. He had a black turtleneck on and black pants. I couldn’t see any distinguishing marks…no tattoos or anything.”

“Did he say anything to you? Did you recognize the voice?” Ziva asked.

“He just said, ‘I warned you Bitch…leave the case alone.’ He grabbed me by my neck and slammed me into the door frame. I tried to fight him off, kick him, scratch him; anything but he was too strong for me. He punched me in the face and then slammed me to the ground.” As Jillian recounted what happened, she began to tear up; it was hard to tell this story.

“Ms. Harris, thank you…I know that was hard for you. We have more questions but you need your rest. We are going to leave now, but we will come back tomorrow…we just want to find the person who did this and make sure you are safe from here on out, alright?”

Jillian again nodded at the words spoken by DiNozzo. He put her at ease and she was okay with them coming back tomorrow. Of course, she had sedatives in her and it could just be the drugs making her so agreeable.

Ziva and Tony slowly began walking out of her room, while Jillian drifted off to sleep.

“What did she tell you?” Gibbs asked as his agents approached him near the nursing station.

“She said he wore a mask, she recognized the eyes and lips but couldn’t immediately place who it was. He slammed her into the door and down on the ground. He did get in punches, like the doctor said.” Ziva gave her report to Gibbs and turned to look at Tony. “How in the world did you get her to calm down and open up?”

“The ol’ Anthony DiNozzo magic Zee-vah!”

“Well, whatever it was, she does remember quite a bit of what happened. Let’s hope she starts to remember whose lips and eyes they were. Then we have an open and shut case.”

Gibbs didn’t say anything further as they walked to the car. It had been a long day, he wanted to get back to the office and finish up a few things and head for home. He had a date with a glass of bourbon and a boat.


	5. Chapter 5

Gibbs could not get this case out of his mind. Too many things were not making sense and he didn’t like the way things were shaping up. He walked into the bullpen to see his team huddled around the plasma, they were engaged in conversation that suddenly stopped as he approached.

“What have you got?”

“Well, Boss, I did some work on Lieutenant Commander Harris’ background,” McGee said with a nervous tone.

“Ok, what did you find McGee?”

“Well, I looked into her background to see if she has any enemies or anyone in her past that might come after her and we are just thinking it has to do with the Hill case.”

“Right, ok, so what did you find?”

“Well she grew up in foster homes…her mother died when she was 4 and her birth certificate didn’t have a father’s name on it so she went into the system. She was passed around from family to family, had a pretty rough childhood. When she was 16 she went through some boxes her mother left her and found her father’s name and tried to contact him,” McGee’s voice trailed off.

Ziva, Tony and McGee all looked at Gibbs as if to gauge his response to the where this conversation was leading.

“Ok…go on McGee.”

“Right,” they all turned back around and stared at the plasma, “She graduated top of her class. She has no other family to speak of; she has never been married and has no children. She isn’t dating, and has one of the most successful win ratios at JAG.”

“So Boss, McGeek is really just telling us that all of the bad guys she has put away have a reason to not like her, but that is about it. “

“I think this is related to the Hill case.”

“Gee Ziva, ya think?” Gibbs asked as he turned and walked back to his desk.

“DiNozzo, I want you to interview Hill. I understand he is being jailed here locally for now. Find out from him what he knows about this whole deal.”

“Ziva, I want you to talk to Lieutenant Commander Regan, I think there is more to his relationship with Harris then he is letting us in on.”

“McGee, had any luck with the files on her computer?”

“Not really, Abby is still running the decoder on the system to see if she can piece together an algorithm to let us in.”

“McGee, a simple ‘no’ would have worked. Stay on that with Abby, I want to know what she has in the files for this case.” Gibbs turned and walked toward the elevator.

~ * ~

Gibbs strolled into the office of Admiral Hurst. He didn’t knock; he just walked in, unannounced.

“You know Admiral a few things stuck me as odd when you recounted your story about how you found Lieutenant Commander Harris.”

“Special Agent Gibbs, I wasn’t expecting you. I am sorry, what do you find odd?”

“Why would Ms. Harris be calling you at midnight? You would think she might call 911 or the guard house, but she was calling you. Doesn’t that strike you as odd? And how is it that you seem to have a key to her home? “

“Jillian is like a daughter to me…she has not had an easy life…she is alone in this world. Her mother is dead; her father is not involved in her life… She has no one. She eats dinner with me and my wife on a regular basis - I don’t have kids Special Agent Gibbs, she is like my daughter.”

“If you are so protective of her, why didn’t you let the authorities know about the letters and the threats?”

“She wouldn’t let me. She was afraid that if NCIS knew about the threats and did something about it that it would ruin the case. She was afraid they would take over the case and all of her work would be for nothing. She might be able to prosecute if something came out of a formal investigation, but she wanted to be more involved. She really doesn’t like you guys for some reason”

“Do you know how much danger she is in?”

“I have an idea, she hasn’t told anyone about how bad the phone calls are to her house. I took her home one night after dinner, just as we got in the door the phone rang. She picked it up and I swear all of the blood drained from her face. She was terrified. I tried to get her to go back home with me, but she wouldn’t have it. She brushed it off and told me to go home.”

“The call came after she walked in? Someone was watching her…they knew her movements.” Gibbs got up from his chair and started to walk out of the Admiral’s office. He turned back around and said, “She never gave you details of what was said?”

“No, she just told me I should go home and that she would be fine.”

“Thank you Admiral.” Gibbs dialed his cell phone as he made his way to his car. “DiNozzo? Have you met with Hill yet?”

“I just got to the prison Boss, checking in now.”

“Don’t…how far are you from Bethesda?”

“About 10 minutes, why?”

“Get to the hospital; I think Harris might be in more danger than we thought. We need to get her in protective custody.”

“On my way Boss.”

~ * ~

Jillian was feeling better; the constant pounding in her head had stopped. She was sure it had to do with the medication. She was sore though, the bruises all over her body made her ache every time she attempted to move. She could vaguely remember her reaction to NCIS coming into her room the day before. She knows she should not have reacted that way, but she couldn’t help it. She had spent so much time trying to avoid working with them, especially on this case and now they were taking over.

As she collected her thoughts, the door to her room slid open and a man came into her room, he was speaking on a cell phone, “I’m here; she is by herself. Ok, on it.”

“What is going on??”

“Sorry to just barge in on you Lieutenant Commander. I’m Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo with NCIS, I was here yesterday talking to you about what happened on the night of your attack.”

“Oh! You are one of the agents I got a little emotional on, right? I am sorry about that.”

“Well, you were coming out of a stressful situation ma’am. We understood.”

“Not sure I have any other information that might help you. I think I gave you everything I could remember yesterday.”

“Well, um, we found some evidence that led us to believe you were being watched even more closely than first imagined. We wanted to make sure you were not by yourself, didn’t want anything to happen to you while we are trying to figure out…what exactly happened to you.” Tony said and flashed one his famous smiles.

“Well, thanks Special Agent DiNozzo.”

“Tony, you can call me Tony.”

“Ok,” Jillian said with a smile. It has been awhile since she had done that. “Tony, I appreciate you worrying about me. This entire case has me so tied up in knots. I don’t know who I can trust anymore.”

As Jillian smiled and talked to Tony, Gibbs approached her room. He could see through the glass wall that she was sitting up and the swelling in her face was beginning to go down. She looked exactly like her mother, the resemblance was unreal. He didn’t want to walk into the room and face her, but he had no choice. He had a job to do and right now that job was to protect her and find out who was coming after her.

Gibbs took a deep breath and slowly slid the door open. Jillian stopped speaking and turned toward the door, the smile on her face slowly faded, this was not the way she wanted to start her day.


	6. Chapter 6

“Morning Jillian,” Gibbs said as he walked into the room.

The fact that Gibbs used her first name was not lost on Tony. That was not like Gibbs at all. Tony wanted to say something, crack a joke, lighten the mood but he figured he better keep his mouth shut instead.

“Morning Jethro, I wondered how long it would be before you showed up; took longer than I expected really.”

“I was here yesterday, you just didn’t see me, and I kept myself in the background and let Agents DiNozzo and David do all of the talking.”

“It isn’t like you to be in the background Jethro. I don’t expect you to keep working this case – pass it off to someone else if NCIS has to stay involved. I don’t want to do this if we don’t have to.”

“I don’t give up that easily Jillian; I stay on a case until I solve it. It is my job to find out who did this to you and why.”

Tony was really lost now…these two know each other! Why didn’t Gibbs say anything yesterday? Why did he act like this was a stranger? Then again, Gibbs was not one to push off the interviews and he didn’t want to talk to her yesterday; that should have been a clue.

“I am sure this is part of the Hill case…I think I am getting close…I have a pretty good idea of who Hill’s dealer is. As I started to get closer that is when the threats increased. I am close to breaking this case.”

“Jillian, I am afraid that whoever attacked you in the office, will try again. I think they are going to increase the pressure, especially since NCIS is now involved. You need to be kept safe while we tie up the case.”

“Jethro, let’s be honest here, you don’t care about keeping me safe. You are in the mode right now of keeping a victim and witness safe…this isn’t about me and you can stop trying to make me feel like it is. Furthermore, I don’t want you solving my case. I have worked too hard on this.”

“I don’t really care what you want Jillian. You worked hard on this and almost got yourself killed. From this point on, you are going to do this my way.” Gibbs turned to face Tony, “DiNozzo, I want you to take Ms. Harris to the safe house and I want you to stay with her. Don’t go anywhere and don’t let anyone in unless it is one of the team. I am not planning on relieving you; I want you to stay there at all times. Do you hear me? Do you understand?”

“Yeah, boss I get it.” DiNozzo answered, still trying to figure out what exactly was going on.

Gibbs turned and started walking out of the room. DiNozzo followed him out the door. “Boss, what just went on in there?”

“I had an interview with a victim DiNozzo, what did it look like to you?” Gibbs took a step closer to Tony and was up in his face. Tony wanted to back down, but he didn’t.

“It looked like there is a personal relationship here that is making you a bit uncomfortable with this case. Who is she boss?”

“She’s a Lieutenant Commander at JAG DiNozzo. Or didn’t you catch that when we got the case?

“Boss it just seems like there is something you aren’t saying that puts a bit of tension in the air.”

“Yeah, so do you have a problem with that?”

“No sir, but I think you do.” Tony winced after saying it. He knew a head-slap or worse was coming for a comment like that. Instead, Gibbs just glared at him and then walked off.

Tony took a deep breath and walked back into the room. He knew he should not have stood up to Gibbs like that, but he was obviously rattled and he wanted to know why. “Ok, Jillian, I guess we get you out of here and you are stuck with me for the next few days.”

“Great, glad to get out of here…not so great to be shipped off to a safe house though. Tony, is that really necessary?”

“Well, the boss says it is…so, I am going to say that yes, it is necessary.”

“He isn’t always right you know.”

“Um, yeah…well he is almost always right.” Tony said with a smile, “he has these gut feelings and we have learned not to question them. I take it you two know each other but don’t really speak?”

“No, we don’t speak. Honestly we work at the same Navy Yard and I have not seen him at all during my time there. I have managed to successfully steer clean of him; I haven’t seen him in over 12 years. I don’t really want to talk about that right now. Can we just get out of here?”

“Sure, let me go sign the papers for your release and then we can go.”

Jillian sat at the edge of the bed and stared at Tony as he signed her release documents. She would normally be excited to be whisked away by such a handsome man. Unfortunately, since this whole scenario involved Jethro, she wasn’t as excited as she would normally be. She had been letting her mind wonder when she realized Tony was standing back in front of her talking and she had not heard a word he said.

~ * ~

Gibbs drove back to the office; he was determined to find out who was behind both the drug ring and the threats to Jillian. Gibbs stepped off the elevator and walked into Abby’s lab, “what have you got for me Abs?”

“How do you always know when I have something for you? It is like some sort of telepathic connection we have Gibbs.”

“Abby – just tell me you found something.”

“Sure thing…Lieutenant Commander Harris had all of the files locked down that related to the case she was working. And she had a lot of files! It looks like she had all of the financial records for Petty Office Hill as well as financial records for some of the people she suspected as his backers. Not only that Gibbs, she had some records that look like Hill might have been the latest in a line of Navy personnel that were used to smuggle drugs into the States.”

“Is that it? “

“No, I gave all of this to McGee so he is doing some research on some of the things that she had. It looks like she almost had the case wrapped up; maybe she needs to be on our team Gibbs.” Abby paused and look at Gibbs for his reaction, she didn’t get one. “Ok, and before I forget, the blood at the JAG scene all belongs to Jillian Harris, none of it to the attacker. He must have worn gloves too, there were no fingerprints.”

“Thanks Abby, good work.”

Gibbs didn’t want to let on that he was impressed with the work that Jillian had done on the case. She did seem to have a knack for investigating. But what was she missing?

Gibbs walked back into the bullpen, “McGee do you have anything off of those files yet?”

“Um, yeah Boss. Petty Office Hill was in debt to the tune of $45k a year ago – his credit cards were maxed, his house had a 2nd mortgage on it. Then 9 months ago he started depositing checks every week to the tune of $5k each – the last check was deposited right before the Vinson shipped out – that is $60k total that he had deposited. He was out of debt when they shipped out, that is what raised the red flags.”

“So where was the money coming from?”

Ziva stood from her desk and joined Gibbs at McGee’s desk. “Well all of the deposits were in cash, whoever gave him the money was trying to be careful and cover his tracks.”

“Did you speak with Lieutenant Commander Regan yesterday?”

“Yes, and I get the feeling he is hiding something. He said that he knew she was working on this case but that she didn’t really share any details. He said she was playing her cards close to her breast.”

“Vest Ziva, she was playing her cards close to the vest,” McGee corrected.

“Right, anyway, he said that she spent a lot of time alone – she didn’t have any family or anyone in her life outside of her work associates. He said this case really got to her, like she felt she needed to save this boy. He didn’t put stock into her belief that it was part of a larger drug ring.”

“Yeah, well something doesn’t sit well with me in regards to Lieutenant Commander Regan,” Gibbs said as he turned back toward the plasma screen next to McGee’s desk.

“Boss, I think Jillian Harris had concerns about Regan too. She has copies of his bank records on her computer.”


	7. Chapter 7

Tony pulled into the nondescript house in the middle of the suburbs. To any outsider it would look like a nice little home that was shared by the couple in the car. Tony often wondered if the neighbors were curious as to why the house has different occupants all the time or if anyone ever really noticed. “Well, we are here - home sweet home, for the next few days.”

Jillian had not spoken during the drive from Bethesda to the safe house. She didn’t know what Tony knew about her connection with Gibbs. She saw their heated conversation out in the hallway and wondered if Gibbs admitted to anything.

“Jillian, are you ok?”

Jillian seemed startled to hear her name. “Oh, I am sorry Tony where you talking to me? I guess I was just daydreaming a bit.”

“It is okay, I totally understand. I was just letting you know we are here.”

“Thanks Tony, you have been really kind to me and I appreciate it.”

Tony and Jillian grabbed their bags and walked up to the front door. For the first time, Tony really noticed what a lovely young woman she was. She was very well composed and for the about of turmoil she was going through she was amazingly calm. Although she did have a propensity for letting her mind wonder and then being startled back to reality. He figured it was just a side effect of her taking stock in her life.

“Well it isn’t the Ritz Carlton, but it will do,” Tony joked as the walked in. The house was well maintained but the fixtures were sparse.

“Tony, if you don’t mind I am going to go lay down for a bit.”

“Go right ahead, you need to rest so you can recover fully.” DiNozzo watched as Jillian headed down the hallway to one of the bedrooms. He could not help but wonder what the relationship was between her and Gibbs. He was intrigued by her…heck, under any other circumstance he most likely would have hit on her already.

Tony picked up his cell phone and dialed, “Gibbs, we are here and settled in. She is lying down for a bit – when she gets up I will see if I can get any additional information from her.”

“Don’t push her DiNozzo; we might have some information from her computer that can wrap this up.”

“Ok, I’ll let you know if I get anything though.” Tony hung up the phone and settled down on the couch. He would try and occupy himself while she slept.

~ * ~

Gibbs walked across the Navy Yard toward the JAG offices; he was positive that someone inside knew what was going on. He didn’t trust Regan and he wasn’t completely sure he could trust the Admiral either. It was his gut again, telling him that what was in front of him was not quite what it appears. Instead of walking into Regan’s office he decided to go to Jillian’s office and see what he might find. He didn’t know what he was looking for…but he was sure there was something there.

Her desk was cluttered, he was sure that to her it was organized but to him it was chaos. She had files and newspaper clippings spread out. As he was opening her desk drawers he heard a voice, “May I help you?”

Gibbs looked up and saw a young woman in civilian clothes standing in the doorway. She looked somewhat annoyed that there was someone in Jillian’s office. “I’m Special Agent Gibbs – NCIS. I am working on the case regarding the Lieutenant Commander’s attack. Who might you be?”

“Kendra Thomas, I am a legal assistant. I worked with Lieutenant Commander Harris; helped out on her research and motion filing. Is there something I can help you find?”

“Kendra – did you work with her on the Hill case?”

“Yes sir; that is the only case she is working right now. Frankly, I think the Admiral was getting a little tired of her working on it. He felt it was a dead end and she just wouldn’t let go. They would argue about it occasionally. It put a strain on their relationship.”

“Really, can you tell me a bit about that relationship?”

“He treats her like a daughter – he invites her over for dinner with him and his wife. There is nothing intimate between them or anything, he just seems real protective of her and looks out for her.”

“What about her relationship with Lieutenant Commander Regan?”

“Oh, that is a whole other story. Lieutenant Commander Regan used to ‘date’ Lieutenant Commander Harris. They went out for about 2 months – she broke it off; said he was a bit controlling and she figured dating a co-worker was not in the best interest of her career.”

“How did Regan take the break up?”

“He was angry – told her that she was making a mistake. Told her that she was letting her cases take up too much of her life and that she would regret not taking time out for her private life. He quit working cases with her – but he was bugging her a lot. She was a little scared of him, but not enough to take out a restraining order or anything.”

“Did Regan ever threaten her? Ever do anything to harm her?”

“No, not like the threats she received on the Hill case; just stupid stuff like she would regret it one day – because he is so special and she would have missed out.”

Gibbs had to chuckle at the thought, he figured Regan was that kind of guy. He began to wonder just how much this guy might have played a role in what happened to Jillian. “Kendra, did Lieutenant Commander Harris ever tell you her theory on who was backing Hill’s drug business?”

“Well, not exactly. I did learn to read between the lines of what she said though. She said that she thought one sailor would bring back the drugs from a cruise and the backer would package it up and give it to the next sailor who would take it out with him. He would sell his product and buy the next batch of drugs with the money he made on the sales. She didn’t have complete proof but she thought that was why Hill had so much cash on him when he was arrested.”

“Kendra, I appreciate your assistance – you were a big help.”

“So you found what you were looking for?”

“Yeah, I think I have.” Gibbs stood up from Jillian’s desk and stepped out into the hallway. He was hoping he would not run into Regan or the Admiral. Luck appeared to be on his side. He briskly walked back over to the NCIS offices.


	8. Chapter 8

Jillian awoke, startled by the crashing thunder. Another storm was rolling in – she hated storms, had hated them since she was a kid. Oh the rain never bothered her, but the crashing of the thunder and flashes of lightening always bothered her. She clinched the extra pillow on the bed hoping that if she squeezed it hard enough it would keep her safe – it wasn’t working.

She ventured from her room and down the hallway – it was still early but the clouds had made everything dark prematurely. She found DiNozzo sitting on the couch watching an old movie. He turned to see her as she walked into the living room.

“Hey there sleepyhead, how are you feeling?” DiNozzo asked, using his charm to make light of the situation they were in.

“I’m okay but you promise you won’t laugh if I tell you something?”

Tony sat up on the edge of the couch; he was intrigued at what he had in front of him – a tough as nails litigator who looked like a small child that was scared. “Yeah, I promise – are you ok?”

“I really don’t like thunderstorms…can I sit next to you on the couch? I don’t want to be in the room by myself.”

A large grin began to appear across Tony’s face, “Sure – come on over here and sit down. I’ll see if I can protect you from the big bad rain storm.”

Jillian knew she sounded like an idiot but she couldn’t help it. She was sure that the thunder was just a metaphor for the turmoil in her life. She couldn’t help that she had been so scared over the threats; she hated that she didn’t ask for help sooner. She hated that she had not trusted to call Jethro in the beginning and she hated that she needed his help now. She was confused – did she need him or didn’t she?

She sat down on the couch next to Tony. She sat as close as she could without literally crawling on his lap. If it bothered him as to how close she was sitting, he didn’t show it. Matter of fact, he reached over and put his arm behind her and pulled her a bit closer.

“Now don’t get any ideas…I am just doing what I am supposed to and protecting you.”

“Actually Tony, I appreciate it…it is reassuring and it is sweet. I promise I won’t get any ideas.”

Jillian and Tony sat on the couch and watched the remainder of the movie while the storm ravaged away outside.

~*~  
Gibbs unlocked the door to the safe house; he could hear what sounded like static coming from the living room television. He slowly walked into the house, gun drawn, not sure what he would find. As he cleared the threshold into the living room he found them – Jillian and DiNozzo snuggled on the couch together – sound asleep. Gibbs slowly holstered his weapon and took a moment to watch the two as they slept. He slowly walked over the television and turned it off; the noise it made as it shut off startled Tony.

“Hey, what is going…oh…hey, boss” Tony said sheepishly.

“Keep it down you’re going to wake her.”

Tony slowly looked down and noticed he had been in an embrace with Jillian; she was still sleeping.

“I swear it isn’t what you think…it is innocent, I mean it.”

“Just what do you think I am thinking DiNozzo?”

“Well….I bet you are thinking that I tried something with her or that there was more to us just sleeping.”

Gibbs tried to suppress a smile, “Tony, I am going to trust you didn’t do anything with her.” Tony felt relieved for a moment, but as he noticed Gibbs walking toward him he knew that couldn’t be good. “Tony, because if you did, you will be answering to me for it- do I make myself clear?”

Tony swallowed hard, “yes sir, crystal.” With those words he slowly moved and let Jillian rest on the couch alone. He stood up and followed Gibbs into the kitchen where they could talk but still keep an eye on Jillian.

“Any luck on finding out who did this to her?”

“McGee found some stuff on her computer that makes a few people really good suspects. Has you told you anything or said anything that can help?”

“No, we got here and she went to bed, the storm rocked her a bit and she came into the living room because she was scared. I haven’t been able to ask many questions.”

“What exactly do you want to know?” Gibbs and DiNozzo turned to find Jillian standing in the doorway. “I am assuming that you wanted Tony to interrogate me a bit Jethro? Sorry didn’t give him the chance…been a bit tired with all this recovering I have to do.” Jillian was being short and sassy in her remarks – she didn’t really want to play nice.

Gibbs took a deep breath before turning and walking in her direction. “I had no intention of DiNozzo interrogating you – but I did intend for him to at least make an attempt to discuss your attack and see if you could remember anything else.”

“Don’t you think I would tell you if I remembered anything? You might not realize this but I am pretty damn good investigator in my own right and I don’t need you to ‘show me how it’s done.’ I know what information you need and why you need it…if I could remember it I would tell you.”

Tony stood back and watched the two argue – he was amused. She seemed the perfect match for him. If it wasn’t for the fact that she looked quite a few years younger, he would swear she could be one of Gibbs’ ex-wives.

“You know Jillian you are just too stubborn and you are in over your head. Maybe if you would have asked for help a little earlier in your investigation we wouldn’t be taking a detour to look into your beating.” Gibbs was furious – furious that she put herself in this position in the first place and even more furious that she didn’t want help now.

“Jethro, I am a big girl and I have survived many a year without you…I am pretty confident I will survive many more.”

DiNozzo noticed the intensity of the words escalating and he noticed how Jillian and Gibbs were slowly staring to walk towards one another. He figured he should step in now before things got any uglier. “Hey, look I know emotions are running a bit high here…let’s just step back and take a breath – maybe sit down and discuss this calmly…what do you say?”

Jillian nodded first and slowly walked over to the kitchen table. Tony was right; nothing was going to be solved by yelling at one another. She sat down and waited for Tony and Gibbs to join her at the table. Gibbs reluctantly took a seat next to Jillian, he was afraid if he sat across from her she really would feel like she was being interrogated.


	9. Chapter 9

They were getting close, with Jillian alive they would almost surely figure it out. He mentally kicked himself, if he had killed her, the case would have died with her. The only problem was he couldn’t kill her. Oh, he wanted to – he just couldn’t do it, something made him stop. He was sure that the evidence she had was circumstantial at best; if she had anything concrete she would have had him arrested already.

His mind wandered back to the root of the problem, Petty Officer Brandon Hill. He had concerns when he got him involved; the concerns centered on the prospect of Hill getting greedy and wanting more money. He never imagined Hill would get caught sampling the goods. The only positive was that Hill had never seen his face; he couldn’t pick him out of a lineup. He didn’t even know his real name and had never heard his real voice – thank God for the voice distorting equipment. If Hill is anything, it is a loyal soldier – that is what is keeping him alive – at least for now.

Jillian was being kept under constant supervision; he knew NCIS would not let her out of their sight. He needed to find a way to get to her…but how? Surely he was not a suspect – he had answered all of their questions and they had left him alone. He needed to make sure they trusted him…if they trusted him…they would let him get close to Jillian. If he got close to her, well he could finish the job he started.


	10. Chapter 10

Jillian paced back and forth in her room. The “talk” with DiNozzo and Gibbs got them no where. She just wanted her laptop and files, “let me work on what I have.” They wouldn’t listen; her fear of NCIS swooping in and taking over her case while being shut out was becoming reality.

She already knew who was behind this; she just needed a little more proof. If she told Gibbs she was afraid he would blow it – slow and steady wins the race. There had to be a way out of this house. She had to hope that DiNozzo was a heavy sleeper – maybe she could sneak out to get some stuff when he goes to bed.

* * *

“Ziva, any of your friends overseas owe you a favor?” Gibbs asked rather sharply as he entered the bullpen at the NCIS office.

“Yes, I have a few favors coming my way. What exactly do you need?” Ziva was intrigued - it was not very often that Gibbs called on her Mossad connections.

“I need to know if anyone has information on him…anything that will help this case.” With those words Gibbs handed her a piece of paper with a name on it.

Ziva read the name and appeared quite surprised, “are you sure about this?”

“Yeah Ziva, I am. My gut tells me this is going to hit very close to home.”

“Ok, I’m on it. I will let you know when I hear something.” Ziva picked up her cell phone and walked towards an empty conference room to begin making calls.

Gibbs sat back down at his desk and opened Jillian’s case files. She was thorough, he would give her that much. The answer was here – but exactly where he didn’t know yet.

“Boss, Abby and I found something!” Exclaimed McGee as he approached Gibbs’ desk. “Lieutenant Commander Harris had a file embedded within a file. I‘m not quite sure how she did this to be honest – the file has a heavy encryption and was password protected…we ran every type of software...”

“McGee!” Gibbs yelled as he interrupted Tim’s rambling. “Just tell me what you found.”

“Pictures boss – these pictures,” McGee said as he clicked the mouse to bring the images up on the plasma screen.

“Where were these taken?”

“From what we can tell, these are from the cargo loading area of the Vinson. The box being left has the same markings as the one that Petty Officer Hill was busted with. This appears to be his supplier dropping off the product.”

“Good work McGee,” Gibbs said as he patted Tim on the back. “She knows who is behind this. She has the information to close this case and she is toying with us.”

“It looks that way boss. Why would she be waiting to arrest him?”

“That is a good question McGee. How long has she had these pictures?”

“From the file stamp, it looks like she got them a week before her attack.”

“Gibbs, I have something!” Ziva declared as she walked back toward her desk. “The drugs Petty Office Hill was transporting came from Afghanistan originally. The drugs are being taken into Iraq by Afghan rebels and traded to US soldiers for cash and in some cases, artillery. The drugs are then flown out to the Navy ships during troop movements and supply runs.”

“How long has this been going on?” McGee questioned.

“For several years – the drugs get off-loaded here in the States. They get refined, packaged and distributed and the circle starts again. The couriers are selling the product to soldiers on their ships or selling them on the streets in Iraq. In some cases they are being sold to base personnel and people working in the Capitol.”

“Is anyone trying to break this up? For heavens sake, this information is out there but no one is doing anything?” Gibbs sounded exasperated over the information that was just provided to him. Gibbs grabbed his jacket and headed for the elevator; he was not happy and Jillian was about to see the North side of his temper.

~*~

Gibbs pulled his car into the driveway of the safe house – he spent the entire drive seething at the realization that Jillian knew what was going on and put herself in danger. She had the answers in her possession and yet she didn’t do anything about it. He took a deep breath before getting out of the car; he figured it would not be in the best interest of anyone involved to go in yelling and screaming.

As Gibbs walked to the front door it dawned on him that DiNozzo’s car wasn’t in the driveway. “So help him, if DiNozzo has taken her out of this house – this is not going to be pretty.” Gibbs thought to himself as he reached for the door handle. The door was locked; Gibbs inserted the key and tried to enter the house as quietly as possible.

The lights were off – the house was quiet. He heard the faint sound of snoring from one room; that had to be Tony. He walked to the door and peered in – sure enough, Tony was snuggled in and he was sound asleep. Gibbs walked over to the door for Jillian’s room and slowly turned the knob – the room was empty


	11. Chapter 11

Jillian had been able to sneak out of her room successfully – but obtaining Tony’s car keys was an entirely different story. She tried to get into his room and get them; he started to stir and she was sure the jingle of the keys would wake him. And if they didn’t, well the opening of the garage door probably would. There was no way out. Sure, she could walk but that wasn’t practical. She could call a cab; yeah, bright idea, she didn’t have any money. Besides, her apartment was most likely under surveillance anyway.

Her mind continued to replay all of the events involve in the case. She needed a break – heck, she needed a drink! She figured the back porch of the house could be a temporary escape. She could sit outside, have some peace to herself and figure the next move. All that was in the refrigerator was a 6-pack of soda – she took one and walked toward the back door.

“I guess I need to tell Jethro everything,” Jillian spoke softly while she stared at the stars in the sky. “He isn’t going to like it.”

“You’re right about that.” Jillian jumped as she heard his voice behind her. “I think you owe me an explanation Jillian – no more secrets.” Jethro walked over and sat on the swing next to Jillian; she bowed her head and avoided making eye contact.

The two sat in silence on the swing for what seemed like hours when in fact it was a few minutes. “How long had you known he was involved Jillian?”

“I had suspicions early on. He challenged me constantly and kept telling me it was useless to keep digging. I had an unwilling witness he said – it wasn’t going to lead anywhere. I ignored him – kept digging.”

“You’re gut tell you to keep going?”

“Yeah, something like that. I began to get paranoid, Jethro. I felt like everyone was against me. I thought everyone was trying to throw me off-track.”

“So, you began investigating them?” Jethro asked; he had to admit he was intrigued.

“Yeah, sad isn’t it? I have nothing better to do than to investigate my co-workers.”

“Hey, I can’t judge – I’m building a boat in my basement.”

Jillian turned and looked into Jethro’s steel blue eyes. For the first time I a few days, she actually smiled. “A boat…in your basement…why?”

“Well, it keeps me from investigating my co-workers. Maybe you should try it.” Jethro smiled back.

Honestly, I was just trying to find out if there was a motive – a way for them to profit if I did stop investigating. They protested too much, that is what made me suspicious.”

“It wasn’t who you thought it would be?”

“No, it wasn’t. I didn’t figure out who it was though until last week - that is when everything fell into place.”

“How about the threatening letters and phone calls; did any of those offer any clues?”

“Things were odd about the calls – the first few were to my voicemail – then all of a sudden they started coming in just after I got to the office or just after I got home. That is what made me start to realize that someone from the office was involved.”

“What information was Petty Officer Hill able to provide?”

Jillian’s shoulders dropped, she took a deep breath, “He was never helpful – he denied everything, said he didn’t have any information on his supplier. I pushed him on it – tried offering a plea, nothing, he just clammed up. The only thing he would say is that he never saw his supplier in person – he only had contact via text message or phone call. The calls had a voice distortion device and the pick-up and drop-offs were in random spots each time – nothing routine.”

For a few moments Jillian and Jethro sat in silence. She was surprised he took her story so well. She had been positive he would yell; of course there was still time.

Jethro cleared his throat, “You know you almost got yourself killed – was that part of your plan?” Jillian kept her head down; she didn’t want to look at him. He was right, her pride and her desire to prove her moxie almost cost her everything.

“Jillian – look at me!” Jethro said forcefully. She slowly turned and looked at him. His face showed genuine concern, something she had not seen from Jethro in the past. “You could – no, you should have – called me. Would it have been worth it to die for this case?”

One by one the tears began to trickle down Jillian’s face. She tried to stop them but it was no use. She got up from the swing and walked back into the house. She stepped around Tony who had come from the living room to see what was going on. Jethro did not follow her – he let her go – he probably should have gone easier on her but she needed to k now she was out of her league.


	12. Chapter 12

Ziva was sitting at her desk going through the case files from Jillian’s office. So many drug cases and so many of them ended with the sailors being cleared; why did these cases intrigue Jillian?

“Ziva, what have you got?”

“Gibbs, I think these old cases have a link to the Hill case?”

“What kind of link?”

“These sailors – all on Norfolk based ships – all charged with drug possession – all acquitted.”

“Ok, so how does that link?”

“Well the evidence is similar to Petty Officer Hill’s case – yet he is sent to prison and the others have gotten off.”

“Who was the prosecutor on the other cases?” McGee asked as he stepped toward Ziva’s desk.

“Lieutenant Commander Scott Regan on two of the cases, a Commander Barbara Moore on one, and the other two were cases that belonged to Admiral Hurst when he was still actively prosecuting.”

“I think you’re right Ziva; it looks like Lieutenant Commander Harris was on to something.”

“Get ‘em in here McGee.” Gibbs stated as he turned and walked toward the elevator.

“Boss, even the sailors?” With those words, Gibbs stopped, turned and walked up to McGee – standing toe-to-toe, “What do you think?”

“I think you want me to see what I can find and get anyone I can in here.”

“Good assumption McGee; make it happen.”

~* ~

Tony walked down the hall towards Jillian’s room. He lingered for a moment before knocking, he wasn’t sure if he should bother her. Then again, she looked like she needed a friend and right now he was the closest think. He knocked softly. “Lieutenant Commander…Jillian? Are you okay?”

“You can come in Tony,” a week voice responded.

Tony slowly opened the door. Jillian was standing at the window, staring out into the backyard of the house. It was obvious that she had been crying. “Are you okay? Do you want to talk about what happened with Gibbs?”

Jillian didn’t move; “no offense Tony, but you work for Gibbs – I just can’t share what is going through my head right now.”

“I understand – you just seem like you need someone to talk to.” Tony turned and began walking out of the doorway.

“I know who is behind the drug operation Tony.” Tony stopped – no wonder things got heated; Tony resisted the urge to respond. “He is mad because I didn’t tell NCIS what I knew.”

“I am sure you have a reason for not coming forward – Gibbs is right though – you put your life at risk Jillian.”

“I know – I just didn’t want to believe what I found – I wanted to keep looking – I wanted to prove that I was wrong.”

Tony stepped into the room and walked to Jillian’s side. He was drawn to her, this woman who at one moment is stoic and strong and the next moment is vulnerable and fragile.

“Tony I thought it would come to this. I honestly thought it was saber rattling at the most. Especially after I know who it was – this just didn’t seem possible.”

“Does he know you solved the case? Does he know that you have proof and can put him away?”

“No, I didn’t tell anyone – not my secretary, not my diary – I didn’t tell anyone!”

“I know this is hard for you – I can only imagine what you are going through – but I promise we will keep you safe. This will all be over soon.”

Jillian turned and embraced Tony. He was surprised but he returned the embrace and held her. Jillian sheepishly pulled away, “I am sorry…I just needed a hug.”

“No need to apologize, I’m here…any time you need that.” Tony winked and left her room.


	13. Chapter 13

Gibbs stood in the observation room staring at the man on the other side of the two way mirror in the interrogation room. He was a strapping young man with a chiseled jaw and deep set, almost black eyes. Gibbs only saw him sitting down but he guessed he was about 6’2” and maybe 200 lbs. As he watched him, he could see that he was fidgeting – he was definitely not comfortable sitting and waiting.

The door to the observation room opened and Ziva walked in carrying a few files. Gibbs did not look at her but asked, “Who is this guy?”

“His name is Ryan Dalton. He was on the list of names that Jillian had for previous cases. He was local and easy to get to. McGee is working on tracking down everyone else; most of them are spread out across the country.”

“Who worked on this case?” Gibbs asked as he sipped his coffee, he was ignoring the file that Ziva had handed him.

“His case was the first; he was handled by Admiral Hurst.”

“Good work, Ziva. Have you been able to talk to the other JAG attorney who had one of the drug cases?”

“Barbara Moore? No, I do have an arranged call with her this afternoon. She isn’t local so we are going to do a video conference with her in MTAC.”

“Great – I want to know everything she knows.”

Gibbs left Ziva in observation and walked into the interrogation room. He said nothing; he tossed the file onto the table and took a seat directly across from Dalton.

After a few moments of silence, Dalton spoke up, “sir, may I ask why I am here?”

Gibbs took a sip of his coffee to prolong the wait before answering the question. “You may…I want to ask you about your drug charges while you were on active duty.”

“Sir, those charges are from five years ago. That case is over so I am not sure why I am here.” Dalton became a bit restless in his chair under the watchful eye of Gibbs. “The charges were unfounded and I was acquitted.”

“The only thing you and I will agree upon is that you were acquitted. I will not go as far as to say that the charges were unfounded. From what I have read, there was quite a bit of evidence.” Gibbs took another sip of coffee and let Dalton stew just a bit longer. “Tell me Dalton, how does a guy like you, with evidence against him, just walk away?

“Sir, I can’t tell you that, I’m not a lawyer. I just know the defense counsel got the drug charges dropped; but I did time for assaulting the MPs and a court officer.”

“You do appear to have a temper – looks like trouble has followed you into civilian life.” Gibbs flipped through Dalton’s file, “let’s see there are charges for harassment, assault and a possessions charge.”

“So, I’m no angel, what’s your point?”

“The point is, you have a background that makes me think you have something to do with the harassment of Lieutenant Commander Jillian Harris,” Gibbs said will staring right into Dalton’s eyes.

“I have no idea what are you are talking about and I don’t know a Harris.” Dalton responded rather emphatically.

“Tell me Dalton, how did they get you to do it? What was in it for you? Did you need money, did you need a fix, or did you just need to fill a deep seeded desire to scare women?”

“I got no idea what you are talking about.” Dalton was trying desperately to sound convincing.

“Here’s the thing – you should have gone away on the drug charges. So a deal had to be made – something to the effect that you get off but you are on the hook if they need something – that way you can pay off your debt?” Gibbs leaned back in his chair and tried to gauge the look on Dalton’s face. “Has someone called in their marker Ryan? “ Gibbs was hoping this would work to help get him to talk because it was his gut leading this interrogation.

Dalton looked down – he could not look Gibbs in the eye. He was fighting to keep his mouth shut. Gibbs was tired of the silence, he stood up and slammed his fist on the table, “tell me why you are stalking her and who is paying you to do it?”

Dalton began to rock in his chair, he couldn’t hold out any longer. “Ok, yes, I was stalking her and sent the threatening letters and calls. I owed someone and they called in the marker.”

Gibbs was shocked that he buckled so quickly. He began pacing the room and figured if he gave Dalton and opportunity, he would just start talking. Suspects hate the silence and they always feel compelled to talk, Dalton was no different. “She was too close to figuring out all of the pieces of the drug operation. They needed her to back off and figured if they scared her enough, she would stop. I was asked to rattle her cage – send her letters, emails, make phone calls and to follow her. Freak her out a bit so she would back off.”

“How did you know when to call? Did they give you her schedule?”

“We started with the letters and escalated when she wouldn’t let it go. I received a text when to start making calls; I was fed information and told where she was. Then they had me following her and I had instructions to call her when she got home at night or right after the lights went out in the apartment.”

“Why did it suddenly escalate into an attack?”

Dalton’s eyes grew wide when Gibbs asked this question. “Whoa! What? I didn’t touch her, I swear to God. I called her, wrote letters and followed her that is all!”

“You have been arrested for assault and you’re telling me you didn’t touch her? I don’t believe you Dalton.”

“Look, I have hit MPs and officers but never a woman. Do you hear me? I would never hit a woman! I didn’t know she was attacked. I know it was hinted that drastic measures would be taken if she didn’t back off but I drew the line and said I wouldn’t do the physical stuff.”

Gibbs could feel his blood pressure rising. He knew that Dalton had the names of the people behind this and he wanted them. He was not going to let Dalton walk out of this room until he gave them up. Gibbs paced to the far side of the room, he turned and faced Dalton. “Tell me, if you didn’t attack her, who did?”

“I have no idea…I didn’t even know she had been attacked until you mentioned it. I am not in that loop.” Dalton was sweating and beginning to shake.

“Fine, tell me who had you stalking and harassing her. I need that name Ryan.”

“Man, I talk I’m a dead man. I ain’t saying nothing else.”

Gibbs flew back over to the table and slapped his hands down. The vein on the side of his head was throbbing in anger. “You’re a dead man if you don’t tell me. Somebody wants her out of the picture and you know how it is. I intend to get that name out of you before you leave this room.”

No sooner had Gibbs finished his rant, the door to the interrogation room flew open and Director Vance stared at Gibbs. “A word Gibbs – NOW!”

Dalton did not look up as Gibbs started to leave the room. He had been in tough spots before and had plenty of officers threaten him for information. But this one, this one scared him. He knew of the connection between Harris and Gibbs and he was pretty sure that Gibbs would follow through and kill him if it came to that.


	14. Chapter 14

Director Vance walked Gibbs back to his office, this would not be an easy conversation but he wanted to do this in private. He opened the door and as he prepared to shut it behind Gibbs, he told his secretary to hold all of his calls.

Vance turned and looked at Gibbs, he tried reading his body language but Gibbs was not giving anything up. “You want to explain to me just why in the hell you threatened the kill a person of interest in this case?”

“Leon, he is more than a person of interest. He admitted to stalking and harassing Harris. He knows who attacked her and is trying to kill her.

“He does k now more but you can’t threaten to kill him! You are too personally involved in this case. You need to pass this off – we cannot jeopardize a conviction because of your involvement. :

“I am not letting my feelings run this investigation. Cut and dry, this is a case of a JAG officer who was assaulted and is in harm’s way – it is my job to find out who did this and stop them from hurting anyone further.”

“Are you sure that is all it is Gibbs? From my vantage point, it sure in the hell looks like a father trying to find and punish the people threatening his daughter.” Leon stared intently at Gibbs, he sighed heavily before continuing. “Does your team know your relationship with Harris?”

“You are off base Leon.” Gibbs said emphatically

“No, I don’t think I am. I am going to ask you again, is your team aware of just how close you are to this case?”

“I have not told them anything but I think they suspect something. Jillian has made it clear that she did not want NCIS and she certainly did not want me involved in this case.” Gibbs took a deep breath and finally sat down in one of the chairs around the conference table in Vance’s office. “Leon, I don’t know if she really understands how much danger she is in. I think she figured out who did this and wanted to take them down but I don’t think she realized how far they are willing to go to keep her quiet.”

“Jethro, she is a smart young lady and I suspect she is well aware of the danger. But, like a certain someone, I think she is determined to finish what she has started. I think she has been successful because of that determination. ” Vance walked over and took a seat next to Gibbs.

“She is playing with fire. “

“Yes, she certainly is; but she feels betrayed. She wants to do this on her own and show them she is not intimidated. You need to impress upon her that she needs your help to wrap it up. She did the heavy lifting, help her close it out and keep her safe


	15. Chapter 15

Jillian sat alone in her room – she had positioned herself in the middle of the bed with her legs crossed and her arms wrapped tightly around a pillow. Since she was a child, this was her ‘thinking’ position; and right now she had a lot to think about. The case and her attack were at the forefront – they played in her head like a movie. The problem was that the ending had not been written yet. Every moment sitting in this room, in this house, was time lost in writing her ending. However, getting out of this house and having a target on her back was not an ending she wanted to see either.

Jill was snapped back into reality by the sharp knocks on the bedroom door. She began to slowly move off of the bed and towards the door when she heard his voice.

“Jillian, can I please come in? I would really like to talk to you. “Gibbs’ voice was soft, quite unlike his normal gruffness. As she opened the door, she noticed in addition to the change in his voice, his demeanor had changed as well.

She held the door opened, “come on in.” She moved to the side and let Gibbs walk by and motioned for him to have a seat in the oversized chair situated by the window. She elected to leave the door open – figuring DiNozzo and McGee would run in and defuse the situation, should it get heated.

Gibbs was nervous, he didn’t know how to start but he figured he should just plow through it. “Jillian, I need you to know that I am impressed with your investigative skills – you seem to have a natural gift for this type of work.”

Jillian couldn’t hold her tongue and interjected, “I feel like there is a ‘but’ with that statement.” She folded her arms across her chest and took a defensive stance.

“Well, yes, there is. Whether you want to admit it or not, you need a bit of help to wrap this case up. You hit a nerve Jillian and they are willing to kill you in order to stop the investigation.” Gibbs took a moment to let that sink in. “If you are dead, they win. Work with us to get this done, put them away and stop this investigation but admit you need help.”

Jillian let his words sink in, she knew he was right but she also didn’t want to cave in so easily. She began pacing back and forth, she kept her arms crossed and kept her eyes focused. Gibbs wondered if she did this when she was in court; if so, he could tell she was a force to be reckoned with.

Gibbs stood and walked towards her, “Jillian, we saw the files on your computer – we know the dots you were connecting. We brought in one of the previous drug defendants to question him.”

She stopped and turned to face Gibbs, “which defendant?”

“Ryan Dalton.”

“That was Admiral Hurst’s case – attacked an MP and court officer and was discharged from the Navy but the drug case was simply wiped away.”

Gibbs was very impressed; she had obviously memorized the files. “Yes, that’s him. He has admitted to harassing and stalking you. He said the plan was for things to escalate but he drew the line at physical violence. He claims to have not known about your attack or who did it. I was trying to get him to talk, almost had him there.”

“Wait, you had him close to talking? Why in the world did you stop interrogating him? You should have pressed harder.” Her voice began to get loud and she could feel it echo in the room. She knew he would not have a good reaction to her protests.

“It wasn’t my choice to stop the interrogation. I was yanked from the room by Director Vance.”

“Why were you pulled from the room? What happened?”

“Dalton said he would be killed if he talked, I told him I’d kill him if he didn’t. Vance yanked me and said I stepped over the line because I am too personally involved.”

“Do you think you stepped over the line? Are you too personally attached to this case?” Jillian asked, staring at Gibbs not sure if she really wanted him to answer.

“Well Jill, think about it. It isn’t every day that I get a case where someone has attacked my daughter and would like nothing more than to silence her permanently.” There he had admitted it, out loud, all the times he has tried to forget that she existed and now he was facing it head it.

“Yeah, I am can imagine your reaction was the same as mine when I found out that you were investigating it.”

“No, Jillian I don’t think it was the same.” Gibbs was standing directly in front of her and his voice was steadily getting louder. He needed her to understand; maybe it would help to just say it. “Look, I admit that when I found out about you, I didn’t handle it well. I never made an effort to take it back and to make things right. So, when I get a call that someone at the JAG office has been attacked – my first thought was ‘Don’t let it be her.’ Then I find that it was you and then I had a flood of relief to know that I was not going to investigate your death.” Gibbs turned away, his emotions were starting to take over and he didn’t show his emotions to many people. Stoic, strong and intimidating – those were the words to describe Jethro Gibbs…not emotional.

“I have not been a father to you and I know that. I don’t know how to be one – but I certainly want you to be safe.” Gibbs took a deep breath and said the thing that he feared the most, “And I most certainly do not want to bury another child.”

Jillian could feel the tears beginning to well in her eyes. She had not allowed herself to think about what this case meant for him. She had only been thinking of herself and how much she had to prove to him. She desperately wanted his approval and she had always hated herself for thinking she needed that.

~*~

When the door opened to the house and Gibbs walked in, DiNozzo and McGee were surprised. They didn’t expect him to come by and he didn’t give them any warning that something happened.

“Hey Boss…what is going on?” DiNozzo asked as he walked from the kitchen into the living area.

Gibbs did not speak and he walked with purpose back to Jillian’s room. McGee walked from the kitchen and stood next to Tony.

“Well he has something on his mind.” McGee offered.

“Yeah and I can’t help but think that it might get explosive.” DiNozzo responded in kind. Both Special Agents just stood in silence and waited to see what came next.

They had anticipated that voices would be raised and when the yelling started, the two inched close to the door. What they had not anticipated was hearing Gibbs say that Jillian was his daughter. The two of them stood frozen and captivated by the conversation that followed. So much so that they failed to realize the conversation had stopped and that Gibbs was now standing right in front of them.

“Are you two just going to stand there?”

“Boss, no sir…I mean we were coming to see if everything was alright.” McGee stuttered.

“Get Admiral Hurst and Lieutenant Commander Reagan into the office – tell them we have a break and need to discuss it with them. Put them in the conference room, I don’t want them to feel like they are being interrogated.”

“Boss, why are we going to get them if we don’t really have a break?” McGee asked; he was a little confused.

“Because McGee, we are going to interrogate them – now go!” Gibbs barked.


	16. Chapter 16

Jillian walked into the NCIS offices and tried to hide her fear. When NCIS wasn’t involved, she was scared but she had also been blissfully ignorant of just how much danger she had been in. Now that she had been attacked, found out that she would have been killed and it was orchestrated by the people she trusted the most – she was terrified.

DiNozzo approached her, he placed his hand on her shoulders, “you’ve got this and we’ve got your back.” He gave her a smile and then pulled her in for a hug. “Sorry, couldn’t resist – thought you might need that!”

“Thank you Tony, I appreciate it; both the hug and the words of encouragement.”

Gibbs watched her interaction with Tony and could tell she was scared but doing her best to mask it. As she approached him, he spoke, “You know we can wrap this up and you watch from the Director’s office if it will make you more comfortable.”

“I need to do this – I started it and I need to finish it – just keep me safe.”

Director Vance was walking down the stairs from his office, “Gibbs, do you have everything you need? This is ready to wrap?”

“Yeah, we have it all ready to go. Have you talked to SecNav and debriefed him in on the situation?”

“Yes, his is aware and I have patched his office into the video feed in the conference room so everything can be seen first-hand and in real time. Today will not be a good day to bluff with evidence.” Vance led Gibbs over to the side to speak without Jillian hearing the conversation. “Does she know what David got out of Dalton after you left the interrogation room?”

“No, I didn’t tell her – I figured she would hear it when we take him down for the assault.”

“You best be prepared Gibbs, she will not handle that well at all.” Gibbs and Vance walked back over to where Jillian was standing with DiNozzo, McGee and David. “Lieutenant Commander Harris, are you sure you are ready to do this?”

“I am ready Director Vance – a little nervous, I won’t lie but I am ready to confront them and get this over with. I think I have let this go on too long.” Jillian pulled her shoulders back and started walking with confidence towards the conference room. The rest of the team followed behind her with Vance and Gibbs at the end.

“Gibbs, do you think she is really ready for this?”

“She better be.” Gibbs responded, realizing he was not overly confident but he had to put faith in her.

~*~

Jillian took a deep breath and turned the knob to open the door to the conference room – Hurst and Regan, startled by the door opening turned to face her. They both stood up immediately.

Hurst began to take a few steps toward her, “Oh Jillian, I have been so worried about you. NCIS wouldn’t give us any detail about where you were or how you were doing….we have been so concerned”

“Thank you for your concern, Admiral. I am doing well and NCIS has kept me protected. Please have a seat.” Jillian was all business, she felt if she strayed from this tactic that she would lose it and be of no use to the wrapping up of the case.

Admiral Hurst looked at Regan and they both sat back down in their seats. They could tell by her tone, and the fact that she had an audience, that this was going to be a professional meeting. They knew how she interrogated witnesses and they figured they were going to be treated the same way.

“Gentlemen, as you know we have been working to find out who is responsible for the threats against Lieutenant Commander Harris and who orchestrated her attack. “ Gibbs spoke as he moved to take a seat directly across from Hurst and Regan. He never broke eye contact with them, not even to gauge how Jillian was holding up

“And you have a lead I take it?” Regan asked as he glanced from Hurst to Gibbs to Jillian.


	17. Chapter 17

Jillian sat down in the chairs across from Hurst and Regan. She liked the idea of having a commanding presence and standing to deliver her speech; but honestly, she did not have faith that he knees would not buckle and betray her confidence. She figured if she sat, she could at least put the fear of falling out of her mind.

“Gentlemen, as you know, I have had doubts about the case with Petty Officer Hill. While I have no doubt that he was preparing to distribute narcotics on a naval vessel, I did have doubts that he was smart enough to set up this elaborate system. I knew that there were larger players involved and my goal was to ultimately get the entire operation taken down and to use Hill to help do it.” Jillian was beginning to pick up steam and her confidence was building.

“The two of you were very vocal about my investigation and your belief that I should just take care of Hill and move on. I couldn’t understand why you both felt so strong that I should stop looking into this case. At first I thought you were concerned that there was no basis and you felt I was wasting my time.” Jillian paused for effect, this gave her an opportunity catch her breath as well. “I only became more determined; I don’t give up so easily you know. The more I investigated though, your objections grew louder. Frankly, that made me suspicious. I mean why were you being so adamant that I stop?”

“Jillian, you know we were just worried that you were chasing down something that wasn’t there. You were wasting your time,” Regan said.

“Well it is funny Scott, the more you told me to stop, the more I wanted to press on. And as I pressed on, that is when the letters, emails and phone calls started. And when I didn’t let that derail me, I started noticing someone following me. Now, since I had not been talking to anyone other than the two of you, I really go suspicious.

Gibbs watched Hurst and Regan carefully as Jillian spoke. They were trying not to give off any body language that would indicate their nervousness; but Gibbs thought he could see a little sweat on the brow of Lieutenant Commander Regan.

Jillian never broke stride. “I didn’t tell either of you the extent of what I found. I gave you crumbs here and there and I think the two of you completely underestimated my powers of observation and my investigative skills. You poor pitiful bastards!”

Admiral Hurst was first to object, he jumped from his seat. “Harris, I am your commanding officer and you will not speak to me in this way or show me the disrespect. I will have you brought up on charges of insubordination immediately.”

Regan stood up and glared at Jillian, “You owe both of us an apology for your tone. I can’t believe you Jillian. At one time we had something special and I thought you knew the kind of man that I am. I deserve my respect than you are giving me right now.”

Hurst decided to chime in again; he thought the tactic of him and Regan objecting would actually deflect this entire situation. “Jillian, I don’t know what you think you know but I believe it is all made up in your head. I don’t know what in the world I could have done to you to make you act this way. You have abandonment issues and are delusional. I have tried my best to take you under my wing and groom you for greatness. And this is how you repay me? We are done here. It will pain me greatly to bring you up on charges but maybe a dose of reality is what you need.”

Hurst pulled his shoulders back to stand a little taller; he turned to Regan and motioned for the door. As they neared the door they hesitated, Hurst turned back to look at Jillian one more time. “I am so disappointed in you.”

“The two of you will not leave this room until I say you are ready to leave.” Jillian bellowed as she rose from her chair. She motioned for DiNozzo and McGee and they moved to block the door to keep Hurst and Regan in the room. “Regan, I will start with you. There is nothing wrong with the love of fine wine and fast cars. The problem is that on your salary, they are more of a pipe dream. Yet somehow, you have a stocked wine cellar, two very expensive vehicles, a big home and a fat bank account. Your parents aren’t well off so this isn’t old money…it made me wonder where it came from.”

“Scott, I pulled all of your financial records and shortly after joining JAG and working in this office, your income began to increase. You were getting drug offenders off pretty easily and getting their charges reduced. Oh the guys would get discharged but somehow they landed on their feet with the help of the JAG corps. “Jillian had hit her stride. “Admiral, I found it interesting that you would feed all of the drug cases over to Regan. I mean his entire caseload for a period of time dealt with drug related charges. The Hill case landed in my lap when you were on vacation and I could tell you were not happy I had it when you returned.”

“I think you misread the situation Jillian. Scott had experience in those types of cases and you did not, I felt it was a little much for you since you were still new to the team.”

“Oh, isn’t that just sweet? It’s a load of shit but it sure does sound nice doesn’t it? You know you live high on the hog as well Admiral. Don’t get me wrong, I do know that an Admiral makes quite a bit more than a Lieutenant Commander and I do know that you and your lovely wife have no children. However, I was still very curious as to what your financials might say about you as well.”

“You had no right to pull either one of our financials and you know that.” Admiral Hurst lashed out.

“Actually I do if I suspect you are part of the investigation. I found it interesting that the other attorney who had worked a case was Barbara Moore and that she didn’t last long in the office. I found that she left under duress due to threats she received for working a case. She had some interesting information to share – such as she was finally approached and offered a pay-off to quietly leave the office and to pursue her career in a new location.”

“See all of this evidence starting pointing in the direction that you were running the operation Admiral.” Jillian picked up a folder and began rifling through the pages until she found what she was looking for. She pulled out the papers and slung them across the desk, in front of Hurst and Regan. “Admiral, don’t you know that it is really important to have a strong password on your email accounts?”

McGee started to smile, Jillian evidently knew about computers and hacking and he was as impressed with that as he was her skills at setting up this case. He looked over at Gibbs and swore he could see a smile on his face as he watched her do her thing.

“Yes, I know you want to bring me up on charges for this. It will have to wait. I know you thought you were deleting emails that held the instructions on which shipments were going on which ships and who your contact would be on each part of the journey. It is obvious you tried to hide the details of the money wires that went back and forth to suppliers and distributors.”

Hurst and Regan began looking at the documents she had put in front of them. They both knew she had them dead to rights.

“The only thing I had trouble putting my finger on was why Scott was brought in. Then I found it!” Jillian said as she tossed another sheet of paper on the desk. “Scott’s brother, Chris – he was arrested on drug charges when he was in the military and Admiral Hurst handled his case. This was years ago, long before any of these other deals. I figured Chris must have told Scott what Hurst was doing and he asked in on the action.”

“So Admiral, you feel free, go ahead and bring me up on sanctions for my tone and my investigation of your finances. I just have a feeling that a disgraced Admiral who is convicted of drug dealing will not hold much weight with the Secretary of the Navy.”

Jillian turned and looked at DiNozzo and McGee, “Gentlemen will you please take these two into custody?” She turned back to look at Hurst and Regan, “Gentlemen you are both being charged under UCMJ Article 112a for drug distribution. As you know, this will be handed over for court martial but due to the large quantities and the severity of the operation, this will be handed over to general court martial prosecutions as a felony level offense. “

Gibbs stepped forward, “in addition to the drug offenses, you are both being charged with stalking, harassing and assaulting a military officer and member of the JAG corps. “

“What?” Regan blurted out, “You are insane. All of these charges are ridiculous.”

“We have the evidence that the two of you had conspired to stalk and harass Ms. Harris. You utilized a former client that owed you a favor to scare Ms. Harris in the hopes that she would stop looking into the case. Tell me Regan, did it make you feel like a man to assault a woman?”

Jillian was frozen, “What are you saying Gibbs? “

“I am sorry Jillian; it seems that while Admiral Hurst gave the order for you to be silenced, it was Lieutenant Commander Regan who attacked you in the office that night. That is why you thought he looked familiar, because he was.”

Jillian turned and ran for the trashcan in the corner of the room - she emptied her stomach and began heaving and Ziva moved to comfort her.

Regan had his head down and didn’t offer any objection to what Gibbs had said. After a moment, he raised his head and looked at Jillian in the corner, “You were just getting too close Jillian and we needed you to stop. I didn’t want to do it; you just gave me no choice.”

“I trusted the both of you – I thought you cared for me and that we were a team. I am such a fool.” Jillian turned to be sick again, while she figured this is what the outcome would be, it still hurt.

DiNozzo and McGee walked the two men out of the room and down the corridor towards the MPs waiting to take them into custody.


	18. Chapter 18

The only people left in the conference room were Director Vance, Gibbs and Harris. Director Vance walked over to the video screen and disconnected the feed to the SecNav office.

“I am sure the Secretary found this very interesting, I am sure there will be a full internal review in addition to the charges against the Admiral and Lieutenant Commander.” Vance said as he turned to look at Gibbs and Harris.

“Oh great, I lay out the case and give a compelling argument while the Secretary of Navy watches and then wipe it away by puking in the corner. I guess I can kiss my career goodbye.” Jillian said and tried to force a smile.

“Oh on the contrary Harris, I think this will put you on the fast track for a promotion within JAG. You were tough as nails when it came to stating your case. You have a stellar career ahead of you.” Vance said with a smile, “the other thing, will that can be excused, after all you just learned that your former boyfriend had no remorse over assaulting you to keep you quiet on a drug case.”

“Thank you Director Vance, I appreciate your kind words, I am just not sure I am cut out to be a lawyer after all.”

“Well, I will respectfully disagree with you. I think there are plenty of people out there who would love to have an advocate that cares like you do.” With those words, Vance moved toward the door. “I will give you two some privacy – It was a pleasure to meet you Lieutenant Commander, I am sorry the circumstances weren’t different though. Should you need anything, you let me know.”

“Thank you Director Vance, your kindness is appreciated.”

Once Vance left the room, Gibbs turned and looked at Jillian, the concern he had for her was evidenced in his eyes. “Well, now that the drug case is over and you solved it, how do you feel about it? Was it worth it?”

“Honestly, I feel a little empty inside. Was it worth it? I could have done without being assaulted – that was scary and I hope to never go through that again. I did think I was going to die and I did question if this case was worth that.” Jillian looked up and tried to give a weak smile. “Why didn’t you tell me that Dalton gave up Regan?”

“Well, I wanted you to finish your case, have the satisfaction of taking them down for the drugs. And me, well I wanted to finish my case and take them down for what they did to you. If I had told you, the emotion could have crept into what you were wrapping up and you didn’t need emotion, you had facts.”

“Honestly, a little empty inside. Don’t get me wrong, I am glad I solved it and took down a larger operation. I just didn’t want to believe that men I looked up to and cared for could be capable of this. I guess I am no judge of a man’s character.” Jillian looked up at Gibbs and gave a weak smile. “Why didn’t you tell me that Dalton gave up Regan?”

“Well, I wanted you to finish your case, have the satisfaction of taking them down for the drugs. And I wanted to finish my case, take them down for what they did to you.” Gibbs walked over and enveloped Jillian in a hug, one that she freely accepted and returned. Jillian did not want to let go, she kept her arms wrapped around Gibbs and placed her head on his shoulder. “I am very proud of Jillian. You did a great job with this case and you are one hell of an investigator.”

Jillian released Gibbs and stepped back to look him in the eye, “Thanks Gibbs. I just feel like this case made me realize I am a lousy judge of character. The two men I trusted most in this world were willing to kill me if need be and I never saw it until I was in deep. I never would have expected this from them.” She bowed her head and lowered her voice, “And the man I trusted the least ended up being the one to keep me safe.”

“Oh you are a better judge of character than you give yourself credit for,” Gibbs said, while lifting her chin to look into her eyes. “You didn’t let their relationship to you or the positions they held keep you from uncovering the truth. If you want a job with NCIS, I am pretty sure we can find you a team to work with. I am fairly certain that Director Vance would love to have you.”

Jillian pulled her shirt down to straighten her appearance. “What about you Gibbs, would you want me here?”

Gibbs smiled, “I would be proud to have you as a member of the NCIS team.”

Jillian turned and walked toward the conference room door, she stopped and wiped a tear from her eye and without turning around spoke, “Thank you Special Agent Gibbs; that means a lot to me, especially coming from you.” Jillian walked out of the conference room and quietly closed the door behind her.


End file.
